2 comments about Back Through the Pack.

1. This is a wonderful book containing countless superb hands. The original "Right Through the Pack" by Robert Darvas was also great but may now be out of print. Pottage does the tradition justice and then some. For those who enjoy analyzing bridge hands with unique twists or interesting points, this is the book for you.



2. I loved this book. It is a modern retake of the Robert Darvas classic in which each card tells some bridge story emphasizing it. Some said it was not as good as the original. Not me, I think both are equally good. The Tale of the Jack of Diamonds is simply the best bridge hand I've ever seen (at least as interesting as any of the Ottlik hands).

No comments about The Bridge World's Test Your Play.

No comments about Partnership Agreements: A Presentation of Commonly Used Bidding Systems and Conventions Outlining Areas That Require Partnership Agreement.

No comments about Tao Of Bridge: 200 Principles To Transform Your Game And Your Life (Tao of).

No comments about Memory-Aids and Useful Rules Flipper (Master Bridge Series).

No comments about Takeout Double: A Bridge Mystery.

1 comments about Teach Me to Play: A First Bridge Book.

1. By far the most interesting and challenging of all card games, bridge is enjoying renewed popularity following a decline from it's peak several decades ago and is currently under consideration as an Olympic sport. As an activity for children, it provides the opportunity to develop numerous skills and attributes beyond sheer intellectual stimulation. It requires such social skills as communication and cooperation with a partner as well as respect for one's opponents. Likewise it develops personal abilities such as how to think and perform under pressure and demands an honest assessment of one's assets and liabilities. There are hundreds of bridge books on the market written for adults, including easily a dozen for beginners, but only one that is designed for children. Fortunately, it's a good one. This book leads the reader through the game step by step and takes nothing for granted, not even the fact of there being four suits in a deck of 52 cards. However, don't think for a minute that it's simplistic or that teaching is by rote. On the contrary, it presents the material in such a way that the reader actually understands the game rather than just learns the rules. Anybody who learns the material in this book - adult or child - will not only be a better bridge player than the party bridge players he or she encounters, but will be well on the way to becoming a serious duplicate bridge player.

1 comments about Masterpieces of Declarer Play (Master Bridge Series).

1. 72 problems, broken into 3 groups. NT (simplest but not simple), Suit contracts, and Bonus. These problems are not easy, and go beyond the usual card reading, duck a trump to retin control, or Trump Coup. They involve something extra, such as testing the suit layouts and switching plans mid course from a ruff to a partial elimination - end play.
   
   A couple of the hands required teh reader to make inferences about teh palcement of high cards based on the bidding that I think are not backed up by the facts. Not everyone would open a had containing Ace, King, King (10 HCP) with 4432 shape in 1st or 2nd seat. Thus teh inference that that player couldn't have a certain card really not valid. Same for a preempt (weak 2) nun-vulnerable against vulnerable. MANY players will bid a weak 2 with AJxxxx. They don't need anotehr outside king, white on red.
   
   Some complex squeezes (I smelled them but couldn't figure out what to do), some hands where you try and scruch up an extra chance or two it increase the odds from 50% to 52% (I didnt think those hands were really taht important), but also some clever hands where you needed to figure out the shape and visualize certain possibilities.
   
   Overall the book is a B-. Could be better, but still had some good hands.
   If you are not Advanced you might not get so much out of it, though its still worth reading.

No comments about The Nature World Playing Card Collection: Saltwater and Freshwater Fish Double Bridge Deck (Natural World Playing Card Collection).

No comments about Charles H. Goren's Point Count Bidding in Contract Bridge.